Morgan Kiely has appeared in court as prosecutors allege her baby was thrown from a car and died after he wasn’t strapped into the seat properly
A baby who tragically died after he was thrown out of a car window wasn’t strapped into his seat correctly, a court has heard.
Morgan Kiely, who was 19 at the time, had been drinking at Clacton beach in Essex with a friend and her six-month-old Harry. Kiely had earlier popped into Aldi and purchased three bottles of wine with Stevie Steel at around 3pm before they headed to the beach.
After spending several hours on the beach, they decided to get back into Steel’s car. But as Steel drove away it rolled and flipped onto its roof. The little boy was ejected from his seat and went through the open window on July 13, 2022. He sadly died with “unsurvivable” injuries, including a skull fracture later that night.
Kiely, of Clacton, has denied manslaughter. Prosecutors said Harry had not been strapped in his car seat properly.
She appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday for the first day of her trial. The court heard how Harry was in a rear seat behind his mother. Steel, of Crayford, has previously admitted causing death by careless driving while over the drink drive limit.
Alex Stein, prosecuting, said the young women were driving back from Clacton beach at about 6.30pm when the crash happened. They were briefly joined by a young man they knew. After finishing a bottle of rosé, they left the beach together before driving away.
The court heard Steel was distracted while driving and hit a parked car on Cherry Tree Avenue in Clacton. The Ford Focus rolled and ended up on its roof, and the two girls were left hanging upside down by their seatbelts.
Mr Stein said: “Very sadly, that child’s seat had not been strapped properly into the seatbelt, and Harry hadn’t been strapped into the seat properly. Harry was thrown out of the open window out of his seat. He suffered a devastating skull fracture. It is a very, very sad case.”
Mr Stein said Harry landed on the road and had no way to break his fall. Members of the public rushed to help, including a retired paediatric nurse. Harry was treated at the scene for more than an hour before he was taken to hospital, where staff continued to try to save him, but he died at about 9pm.
Mr Stein said there was nothing to suggest Kiely wasn’t a loving and caring mother to Harry and that everything that could have been done to save him was done in the period after the crash.
The trial continues.